Recently, miriam made a comment in which she said:
"I cannot believe that I, and thousands of others of all ages and ethnicities, marched in 90+ degree heat and pouring rain and wind and snow to stop the war in Viet Nam only to have my children and grandchildren sitting on their backsides doing nothing'but talk about bad things are!" Mon Jul 31, 2006 at 09:07:22 PM PDT
I began to respond to her, until I realized that the answer was more suited to a diary.
I am 19. Not one of my high school history classes taught us ANYTHING about the history of this century. At all. I had to learn on my own that Vietnam was a mistake - no teacher ever bothered to tell me.
Of course, I live in the liberal paradise of California, where I didn't believe feminism was necessary until I read about what it was like for women in Texas, Mississippi and Ohio. At the same time, I live next to an Air Force Base, so the people I went to school with where all Republicans. My high school basically trained you to enter the military. We had recruiters on campus often, and the library was filled with pamphlets. My graduating class alone had at least ten recruits, though thankfully most changed their minds - a fact that was remarked upon sorrowfully during our graduation ceremony. Said the principal:
"We have fewer graduates entering the military this year than last year. Clearly the Iraq War has something to do with that."
During Vietnam, being a liberal was cool. I don't know if that's true anymore. I was the only one at my high school, and for a long time I didn't even know that I was. My best friend's (I'll call her Rachel) mother has literally told her to stay away from me because I'm a liberal and I'm trying to brainwash her. It's very hard to deal with.
The younger generation just doesn't see how national issues affect them. All of the work of our parent's generation seems, to many my age, to be achieved. The issues that should matter to us (women's rights, civil rights, tuition fees, health care) are ignored and the classic talking points of the right have taken root.
I went to school with a lot of racists and to them that was the only thing that mattered. Rachel has said many times that she "can be racist at times" such as when spending time with racist friends and/or boyfriends. I have tried to explain to her that she isn't a racist and shouldn't - for God's sake - PRETEND to be one, but she doesn't see the problem. She gave me the classic (please forgive me my language):
"There's a difference between n*g** and black people. Black people are okay, I just don't like n*g***s aren't."
You might think this makes her a racist, but she really isn't, truthfully. She has no problem with people of other races. The other ironic thing is that many of her racist friends are actually Hispanic. If your head is spinning in circles right now, well, I don't blame you. I've fallen out with all of them but I am very curious how they have taken the right's illegal immigration edict.
On that note, while I was registering people to vote, I signed up a young man who was born in Mexico for the Republican Party. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to inform him that many members of his party would like to have him deported.
I have one friend (Isabelle) who HATES Christians with all her might, has gay friends, is not racist, and believes abortion is a gift to humanity, and yet - she is a Republican. Why? She hates welfare. She grew up poor and since her parents worked and didn't have welfare, she doesn't understand why anyone would need it.
My other best friend (Jessica) grew up poor as well, with three siblings, and just her mom and was on welfare for a long time. (I've used her family as an example against Isabelle's anti-welfare sentiments, but she doesn't get it) However, Jessica too is a Republican. Why? She's an evangelical Christian. And although she has a brother and a best friend serving in the military, and hates the war, she supports Bush because "at least he is godly."
She says that Democrats are no better than Republicans because under both her family has done exactly the same. I told her if it weren't for legislation past over decades by Democrats, her family would be doing a lot worse. She didn't believe me, and she never let me prove it to her, claiming that I was "too political".
When the war began I tried to explain to her that the Iraqis, as I saw it, were only trying to defend their country against what they thought was an unwarranted attack. I argued that as Saddam had limited their access to material that spoke of his wrongdoings, they had no way of knowing that the Americans were "good" and that Saddam was bad. All they saw (and remembered from years ago) was American bombs striking the houses of their friends and relatives.
"Don't you feel sorry for them?" I asked her.
She sighed. "I'm sorry they don't know my God."
I was shocked. Jessica is a sweet, giving person, and yet there she was, basically telling me that it didn't matter if people died, if those people were not Christian.
Then there is Jose. I have known him for 9 years. Now he wants to join the military and "defend his country". I don't think he realizes how he will be treated in the military. He has never been called (please excuse me) a "beaner" or a "spick" in his life, and I don't think he'll take it very well.
Rachel wanted to join the military too. I finally talked her out of it. She didn't seem to understand (please excuse me again) that having double D's in the military is almost a death sentence. I've told her about rapes, death due to dehydration
http://www.truthout.org/...
, the military's refusal to allow service women to have abortions, and none of it sinks in.
Now, my father says that my case is different because I live near an air force base. But I think that means my experience is similar to that of young liberals in red states. We try, and we try hard, but our peers are, sadly, sometimes too far gone.
I doubt there is any hope for Jessica. The others, well, I still harbor hope for them, of course. I do think our moment is coming. One sign is that our music is beginning to evolve into protest rock, and we will hopefully follow it to the correct conclusion.
Rachel is a huge fan of one band who has evolved into a protest group - Green Day, and though she is proud of being a redneck, she'll sing along to every word of "American Idiot".
I don't know if this diary answers the question, but it might give the older generation an idea of what its like for the younger trying to bring more people over to the cause.
A good example would be the following:
While registering people to vote outside the local supermarket, I ran into an old friend who asked to be registered as a Republican. I was shocked.
"Do you hate gays?" I asked him.
"No, they're fine."
"Abortion?"
"Of course not. That's the women's decision."
"Black people?"
"No! I'm not racist."
"Then why?" I demanded.
"Because, I just don't like people."
It's difficult, it's frustrating, it's tiring, its alienating....and its vital, and worth every minute
.... and hey, at least he was honest.